Make us dream / BEST ENSTA Paris race

Last April, the 2024 edition of the BEST ENSTA Paris Race was held. Its name: LAUNCHER - Learn About the Universe and its Conquest by Humanity Employing Rockets. Here's a look back at the project, which received funding as part of theFaites-nous rêver call for projects.

The Course is a flagship event of the BEST European network, facilitating mobility and exchanges between European students. The principle of this event is towelcome on campus, for one week, around twenty students from other European schools and universities. Each year, all BEST branches across Europe organize their own Race, focusing on a specific and varied scientific theme. Applications are open to all students from schools and universities with a BEST branch: it's worth remembering that all ENSTA Paris students are eligible to apply to run in a BEST group abroad!

The BEST ENSTA Paris Course - LAUNCHER - brought together a group of 21 students from 20 different universities, representing no less than 14 different nationalities and cultures, during the second week of April. During the week, they were offered thematic courses with a final exam, lectures and company visits with partners such as ESA, CEA and ArianeGroup, whose site at Les Mureaux is home to the manufacture of Ariane 6 rockets.

As the title suggests, this Course focused on the theme of the conquest of space, from its technological and economic challenges and stakes to their realization.

But a Course doesn't exist exclusively for academic purposes: its aim, like the BEST network, is also to encourage cultural exchanges between European students. That's why during the week, in addition to classes, we organized cultural activities, such as visits to the Château de Versailles and the Louvre, and workshops to discover French culture, in partnership with the school's associations EnTAblier, Patâchoux, CanTAl and TAnin: wine and cheese tastings, French-style gastronomy. Not forgetting the organization ofan International Evening, during which each and every one of them presented an extract from their local culture (often artistic, musical or gastronomic... yum!).

The LAUNCHER event was a great success, with more than 85% of the final exams validated, and 100% of the Course smiles and good spirits... Wonderful encounters and wonderful memories: an event of which BEST ENSTA Paris is very proud!